UAE to face Qatar tomorrow in Fifa World Cup qualifiers in Abu Dhabi

On Tuesday, the UAE national football team will meet Qatar in a World Cup qualifying match at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

The match is scheduled to start at 8pm UAE time. 

After suffering a defeat to Iran, which cost them the chance to improve their standing in the competition for two spots, which automatically qualify for the two slots, both teams came back and won last Thursday in their campaigns. Almost Six Points behind Uzbekistan and Iran in the qualification chart with 12 points, the two grabbed three points in a bid.

Qatar shall go into this match buoyed by their away match against United Arab Emirates in the World Cup qualifiers where they managed a victory. They had to get their first victory against Lebanon on matchday five. 

Bento damaged the supporters’ hopes in their last World Cup qualifiers, having allowed Portugal to qualify from their group yet again, without automatic qualification.

“Right now we do not need to concentrate too much on the next game, its planning will come, but it's important that we take some rest at the moment. Then it goes into a mode where players are instructed to rest as much as possible in order to be ready for the preparations. What happened after the match against Kyrgzstan,” Bento said after they won 3-0 against Kyrgzstan on Thursday.

As for the third and fourth ranked teams, they will also proceed to the playoff from which two more qualifying slots are on offer.

“There are various types of paths that we can take in order to qualify for the World Cup, and as many as we can have to be made, in order to qualify for the tournament,” said Bento, who previously guided both Portugal and Korean Republic in the Finals”, after receiving a pass from a defender.

“You can understand that this is not the nicest time to put too much energy in worrying about the World Cup or the game with Qatar, but of course on the pitch the players have to be in a position to execute all those decisions.” 

Qatar coach Marquez Lopez would be hoping that the thrilling 3-2 victory over Uzbekistan, sealed by a deep-in-time Lucas Mendes goal, would enable the Qataris to avenge the 1-3 loss they suffered to the UAE in Dubai back in September. 

Qatar, the reigning two-time champions of the AFC Asian Cup, through its qualification rounds for the World Cup are for the first time going on merit as this has proven to be quite tough going through the AFC Asian Qualifiers, however, Lopez confidently believes that the win on Thursday will inspire his team for the UAE whom they have lost five out of their last eight matches.

At the next World Cup, Asia will have eight places out of 48 available for the teams from the continent. Currently in the Asian Qualifiers for the World Cup, there are eighteen teams with the third round enrolling the teams into six groups. 

In group A, along with Host the other teams are Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and North Korea. Group B has South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, and Kuwait; Group C; Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, and Indonesia. 

Championship will be participated by the top two teams, out of which the best teams of three groups will go into the finals. For the fourth phase of qualifiers, the 3rd and 4th placed teams of the group are seen competing who have six teams in total. 

Last round of qualifiers consisted of six teams which played in two groups of three teams each. Group winners qualify for the World Cup but the runners up qualify for a play off. 

There is a playoff section in Asia from which the winner plays in a further playoff with five teams from other continents for the last two World Cup places.

The UAE will meet Qatar tomorrow in the World Cup qualifiers to be held in Abu Dhabi. Support your team. For further news updates, please Subscribe to Just Dubai!